BOCA RATON, Fla. (January 8, 2013) – Florida Atlantic University’s Larkin Symposium on the American Presidency in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters Department of History presents the symposium “Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America.” The symposium will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 20 and Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013 in the Kaye Performing Arts Auditorium on FAU’s Boca Raton campus, 777 Glades Road. A full schedule can be found at www.fau.edu/larkin and tickets can be purchased at www.fauevents.com or by calling 800-564-9539.

The symposium will open with a keynote address titled “Lincoln's Constitutionalism and the Meaning of the Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus,” presented by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Mark E. Neely, Jr. The lecture will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 3:30 p.m., with a book signing to follow. A Civil War Exhibition and reception for VIP guests will follow in the Marvin and Sybil Weiner Spirit of American Collection on the 5th floor of the Wimberly Library on the Boca Raton campus.

The symposium will continue on Thursday, Feb. 21 with Session One, from 9 to 11 a.m., which will include lectures on “The Age of Lincoln,” with Vernon Burton of Clemson University; “The Union Home Front,” with Matthew Gallman of the University of Florida; and “Lincoln the Leader,” with Richard Carwardine of Oxford University. There will be a lunch break from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and then from 1-3 p.m., Session Two will include “Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief,” with Mark Grimsley of Ohio State University; “War-time Emancipation,” with Kate Masur of Northwestern University; and “Presidential Reconstruction” with Brooks D. Simpson of Arizona State University.

Mark E. Neely is the McCabe Greer Professor of Civil War History at Pennsylvania State University. His book “The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties” won both the Pulitzer Prize and the Bell I. Wiley Prize. He also published an article in the magazine Civil War History titled "Was the Civil War a Total War?”

For more information about the sympoisum, call 561-297-3840.

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About Florida Atlantic University:
Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University, with an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion, serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at sites throughout its six-county service region in southeast Florida. FAU’s world-class teaching and research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University is placing special focus on the rapid development of three signature themes – marine and coastal issues, biotechnology and contemporary societal challenges – which provide opportunities for faculty and students to build upon FAU’s existing strengths in research and scholarship. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.